Why Spending On Giveaways Beats Spending On Advertising

The cheapest forms of advertising are word of mouth and referrals, which are an important part of growing a successful business. Most business owners would agree they don’t do enough to encourage existing customers to spread the word as it is hard work and people are busy, so they often need a good reason to help you in this regard except on the off-chance they happen to be talking to a friend who coincidentally is looking for the same or similar work to be done.

The chances of this occurring randomly are slim. If someone is looking for a plumber they might ask you to recommend someone if they know you have used one in the recent past, but they wouldn’t necessarily know you employed the services of a marketing expert or found some amazing software that is really helping your business. The general public might be more generous in recommending services gratuitously but there is no harm in offering a tasteful and appropriate incentive such as up-market store vouchers. This shows your appreciation is genuine and will stand out among the proliferation of tacky offers.

Business owners on the other hand like to have and keep a competitive advantage that they wouldn’t necessarily want to share with their peers. If you are in the B2B arena you should focus on anonymous ratings first, and testimonials and case studies from smaller clients that might benefit from the extra exposure.

Thank Customers For Referrals With Vouchers

If you offer services to the public then there are simple ways to encourage referrals, either with rewards like gift vouchers and coupons, or loyalty schemes if you have a regular repeatable element such as a beauty parlour, hair salon or gardening services. Loyalty schemes also work well for restaurants and accommodation businesses.

Review Your Testimonials

Asking existing customers to leave reviews is one of the best ways to attract new customers because good reviews and star ratings make a big difference to whether someone clicks on your listing or not. Testimonials on your website add credibility and provide comfort to someone browsing and yet to make a decision about who they should contact first.

How Giveaways Can Make Your Marketing More Cost Effective

For those that understand the power of building a subscriber base, growing their list is the biggest challenge as it takes a long time to grow naturally and can be costly to promote. Competitions and giveaways are a great way to build awareness, and for this you first need a Facebook business page.

There are two objectives here: first to create engagement with existing followers in a way that encourages them to share your post to increase the reach and gain new followers; and second to build a marketing platform that is so cost-effective it can actually make you money, generating revenue that can be used on other more targeted methods.

Done correctly you can easily cover the cost of the prize you are offering meaning that you have the ability to build your list quickly, and done well you can actually create a new revenue stream at the same time. Who wouldn’t want that?

We are specialists in advising on, creating and implementing all the above.

Be inventive with your incentive and CONTACT US now!

It may come as a surprise to many, but according to recent statistics, 60% of small businesses are yet to invest in their own website.

It is not a surprise to me at all. As a small business owner since the age of 23, I know all too well that spare time is not a luxury you have at your disposal; either to explain to an agency in sufficient detail what you would want so that you get something resembling your vision, or to learn the whole internet thing which these days involves the mastery of domain registration, changing Nameservers to your carefully chosen hosting service, installing and learning WordPress, where to find free-to-use images, how to resize them and add text and change formats and themes and menus and… and… and… what’s the difference between a page and a post anyway?

It is the Small Business nightmare. I have been building and tweaking Html and WordPress sites for years in my spare time before I started taking it more seriously, and I still get caught out with updates – recently with php 5.2 being deprecated, and I never, ever wanted to be someone who even knows what that means!

The good news is that you don’t need to become an expert, or waste your time learning and configuring so-called “website in a box” software packages or online “web-builder” platforms. Either contact a local agency like ourselves and demand an affordable price, or opt first for a Facebook business page.

Before you dismiss Facebook out of hand, the business side of Facebook is very different to the user-facing side. If you find social media to be an intrusion or distraction then that’s fine; you won’t need to be on it all day long trying to keep up with the Joneses. Instead you might find yourself engaging with new potential customers and clients you wouldn’t otherwise have found, and that’s what business is all about, right?

Facebook business pages are relatively quick to set up, and with the right tools added you could have a powerful and portable lead generation and client communication system in your hands (your smartphone), and one that carries on working while you sleep, and even when your phone is on silent while you grab those precious moments of “spare” time.